Boys Soccer Wins Second Straight, Football Can’t Stop Weymouth

October 23, 2026
• Boys soccer hosted Milton, while football welcomed in Weymouth. 

After tying four straight games, the Needham boys soccer team won their second straight, 3-0, over Milton Thursday afternoon at DeFazio Park’s Brock Field. One day later, Rockets football hosted Weymouth for Senior Night and could not stop the Wildcats run heavy offense, that totaled 293 yards in the game.

On Thursday, Needham and Milton played most of the first half without scoring a goal. The two teams have combined for thirteen total ties, Needham with seven and Milton six, with their first matchup this year resulting in a 1-1 tie back on Sept. 24 at Milton.

With less than a minute to go in the first half, however, the Rockets registered their first goal of the game, courtesy of senior Micah Rosin, his team leading seventh on the season. Wildcats senior goalie Moon Morrison had a stellar game in net, denying Needham’s offense several times.

The contest stayed 1-0 until late in the second half, when senior captain Austin Williams scored with just under a minute and a half left. It was the sixth goal of the season for Williams, who is second on the team in goals scored.

In the closing moments, the Rockets added one more score, as senior Max Shoemaker bounced the ball over Morrison and headed the ball in for his third goal of the season. After a 2-1 win over Walpole on Oct. 20, Needham’s victory over Milton Thursday gave them a two-game win streak, and improved their record to 5-2-7 on the season.

They will host St. John’s Prep Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9:30 a.m., then Braintree on Oct. 27, before hitting the road to Framingham on Oct. 29. Needham will close out the regular season with Senior Night on Monday, Nov. 2 against Natick at 6:30 p.m. from Brock Field. The Needham Channel will record a broadcast of that game to air the following night.

On Friday, Needham football hoped to get a two game win streak of their own going, if they could beat Weymouth, who came in with a record of 4-2, ranked No. 21 in the MIAA Division 1 Power Rankings. Needham (1-5) won their first game of the season a week prior, a 21-7 victory at Braintree, and checked in at No. 24 in the Power Rankings.

The Wildcats got on the board first with a 3-yard touchdown run from Brendan Flynn on 4th & 1 with 7:36 left in the first quarter. The Rockets responded, moving the ball down the field with their run game on their next drive. Preston Pinckney tied the game, 7-7, with a 4-yard rushing touchdown, his fourth touchdown of the season, with 3:48 left in the first quarter.

Weymouth continued to dominate with their wing-T offense, and took a 14-7 lead with a 6-yard touchdown run from Owen Halpenny with 44 seconds left in the first. On the following kickoff, the Wildcats recovered a pooch kick, and they turned it into points with a 5-yard touchdown from Thomas Byrne. After a missed extra point, Weymouth led 20-7.

Needham’s senior quarterback Jack Ringer was injured on a run play in the second quarter, and was replaced by sophomore Liam West the rest of the way. West threw an interception, and the Wildcats would capitalize again on the following possession. Byrne scored his second touchdown of the night to put Weymouth up 26-7 after a failed two-point conversion.

Needham had a chance to score with just two seconds left in the half, but West’s pass to Matthew Mullaney was hauled in right when Mullaney was out of bounds.

Both teams turned the ball over on fourth downs in the third quarter, but on Weymouth’s second possession of the drive, the Rockets special teams made a block and recovered the ball at the 1-yard line. West took it in on a QB sneak from there, and ran in the two-point conversion to make it 26-15.

But Weymouth continued to pound the ball, chewing up the clock. They added their final touchdown with 2:33 left in the game, another run from Byrne, to make the final 33-15.

Weymouth rushed from 293 yards, passing the ball once the entire game. Flynn had 21 carries for 104 yards, while Halpenny added 109 yards on 13 carries. Byrne finished with 11 carries for 79 yards and three touchdowns.

Schandler Appolon led the way for Needham offensively with four receptions for 72 yards. Pinckney had 14 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.

With the loss, the Rockets fall to 1-6 on the season, while the Wildcats improve to 5-2. Needham will be at Framingham on Oct. 30.